(Scientific Computing) By installing wireless sensors and replacing faulty traps along the 12 miles of steam lines at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, officials expect to save as much as $675,000 per year. With 1,600 steam traps, which normally open slightly to discharge condensed steam with a negligible loss of live steam, the problem occurs when a trap fails and that failure goes undetected and unrepaired, said Teja Kuruganti, a member of the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division....10/5

(Knoxville News Sentinel) Budhendra Bhaduri, who heads the Geographic Information Science and Technology research group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is the 2010 recipient of a Homeland Security Award from the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and AugustaWestland North America....10/5

(Reuters) Developing genetically modified trees and plants could capture billions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually and reduce the impacts of global warming, a new U.S. study says. In the study, researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory explore methods of enhancing the processes by which plants sequester carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into long-lived forms of carbon that can be stored inside the plants - and, ultimately, in the soil....10/5

(Health Canal) A group of scientists and physicians has developed a novel filter-based microdevice that detects and characterizes circulating tumor cells, which could transform the way cancer is diagnosed and treated. The study is "Portable Filter-Based Microdevice for Detection and Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells," authored by Henry K. Lin of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, among others....10/6

DOE

(DOE Press Release) These two solar installations will be part of a Department of Energy demonstration project showing that American solar technologies are available, reliable, and ready for installation in homes throughout the country....10/5

(Knoxville News Sentinel) According to John Shewairy, DOE's chief spokesman in Oak Ridge, the federal agency obligated all of its stimulus funds by the Sept. 30, 2010, deadline. The funding had to be allocated for projects by the end of fiscal year 2010, even though the money can continue to be spent for another year - or even longer in some circumstances....10/6

(DOE Press Release) DOE General Counsel Scott Blake Harris said, "These reports will allow the Department to better inform a dialogue with state and federal officials as they implement and deploy Smart Grid technologies that will help create good-paying jobs, save consumers money and encourage rapid growth in renewable energies like wind and solar."...10/5

(Washington Post) Taliban representatives and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources....10/6 [Registration Required]

(NPR) Authorities have discovered 252 bodies in the Arizona desert over the past year. That is a record. They are the remains of migrants, who died trying to cross into the U.S. illegally. But overall, the number of people crossing illegally is down, according to the Border Patrol....10/6

(Washington Post) The Interior Department approved the first solar projects on public land Tuesday, a move aimed at shifting the type of energy development on federal property in the years to come....10/6 [Registration Required]

(National Geographic) A "hidden" language has been discovered in an isolated hill tribe in a northeastern Indian region considered a "black hole" in the study of languages. The new language, Koro, is spoken by about a thousand people in Arunachal Pradesh, a state for which little linguistic data exist....10/5

(Wired) Despite its razor-thin makeup, graphene is one of the strongest, lightest and most conductive materials known to humankind. It's also 97.3 percent transparent, but looks really cool under powerful microscopes. We've corralled some of the best shots here, with a bonus video of graphene being punished by an electron beam....10/6

Other Stories

(Christian Science Monitor) The Pentagon and its NATO allies are looking at how to improve their defenses against a cyberwar, but the basic question of how to define a cyberattack is complicating efforts....10/5

Disclaimer: News stories linked on this page do not reflect the opinions or views of ORNL staff or management.